Yesterday I finished a project that I'd been working on for a long time.
It's a set of "Spanish tiles" I created from a coloring book of Islamic designs, hand colored-in with markers, accented with glitter, mounted on stiff cardboard, and then covered with a film of epoxy.
At first I wasn't sure what I'd do with them, but after some consideration, I decided to buy some frames from Ikea and hang them on my own bedroom wall. I'm so glad I did--my room is much more homey now!
Here you can see the tiles in-process, before I added the epoxy:
I took an epoxy class last summer in Oviedo. It was a bit expensive and sometimes I've wondered whether it was worth it (since you can pretty much learn everything you want to know on the Internet), but I've enjoyed the adventure of exploring this new and sometimes messy medium.
Here you can see some coasters I made as my first test projects:
Obviously I still have a long way to go with epoxy, but before I dived into the world of plastics, I used to make my Islamic design coloring pages into greeting cards. I really enjoy the meditative process of coloring, and my Dad instilled a deep appreciation for Islamic geometric art in me.
In February, one of our favorite bosses, Victor, left our company to take a job closer to home. We usually pass a card around for everyone to sign, and I was asked to create one for Victor. I brought a few options with me, and my colleague who was organizing the farewell looked through them and then said, "I think, this one," and I was so happy, because it was my favorite option for him too! Here you can see it among the goodbye gifts:
On the day Victor left, he came over to my desk with the card and said, "I sent an email to everyone thanking them, but I wanted to thank you in person for making me this card. I really like it. Thank you for your art."
That meant so much to me. It's always what I hope for, when I create, that those who purchase or receive my art will feel a connection with it like I did when I made it. I feel so lucky when I get to know it's touched someone and made them feel something. That's really what art is about, isn't it? ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Some of the pieces in this article are still available in my store. Link in bio, or go to etsy.com and search TheMermaidIsland. Thanks for reading! Stephanie